Gerard is a member of the House of the Blackheads (Schwarzhäupterhaus) of Riga. The name of the brotherhood comes from the fact that their patron was Saint Maurice – according to the legends he was a black Roman legionnaire. Gerard is a townsman of Riga, who until recently had run a fencing school in the city.

His true second name is von Weissenwolf. He is the illegitimate son of Andreas Ungnad von Weissenwolf. He was born in 1608. His mother was a poor Prague plebeian and orphaned him in a childhood. Gerard went to the shelter for orphans in Prague. He received basic education. He was also lucky – he found a job at the local Federfechter guild. Each day he woke up at dawn to wash the floors and clean the gyms. In return, he was allowed to watch the trainings. He liked the dying martial art of the long sword most. In the evenings he secretly practiced all postures using broom stick.

When he was a teenage boy, Gerard’s quarrel with one of the students – the conceited Hungarian Kabóca. Gerard defeated the pride guy with his broom. Seeing his talent the old master of the long sword took him as a disciple. When Gerard grow up he left the school to live adventurous life.

After a long journey, he settled in Riga, where he was admitted to the House of the Blackheads. Officially it was an ordinary urban militia. But this is only a semblance. In fact, there is an inner circle in the brotherhood.

The remnant of the old Livonian Brothers of the Sword – the order of knights fighting monsters in the far North of Europe. When the order was secularized, some went underground and gave birth to the brotherhood. Gerard earned their trust and soon became a brother. That’s how he became a monster hunter.

He officially founded a fencing school and was an exemplary townsman. Sometimes, however, he disappeared for longer.

Only a few knew that he hunts for werewolves and other creatures haunting numerous Livonian forests and marches…

Gerard is now 58 years old. During the hunt for monsters, he met a heathen witch. In return for saving her life she told him who he really is. She picked up a ring with a wolf carved in the carnelian – the only hairloom he has from his mother.

Using her divination skills she foretold him that his half-brother is David Ungnad von Weissenwolf – a member of the imperial royal council. In the vision she saw a great danger threatening the Empire and the world.

He is armed with a long sword, one edge of which is silvered. Gerard considers very funny a legend that monster hunters carry two swords on their back: “It’s hard to imagine a less convenient way of carrying a weapon! How can it be? Unless someone has arms as long as these orangutans from distant East India. Silver sword?
Seriously? A silver blade is suited only for cutting butter. Silver is bad material for weapons – heavy, low hardness and elasticity compared to steel. Imagine changing your swords continuously, when in one moment you fight with some vampire, and in the other with his human servant, whose poor iron weapon is going to chip your expensive silver blade! You really have to swap your head with a donkey to invent something like that! Every sword blade has two edges. It is enough to make silver inlays or silver plating on one of them. When fighting mortals, You use steel edge, and when some monster attacks You just need to cut him with the other edge. That’s all!”